#JonesyBJ--Look at you, twittering! Loved your latest book. And somehow I never thought you’d have children, but here you are, a single mother of two.#JonesyBJ--Look at you, twittering! Loved your latest book. And somehow I never thought you’d have children, but here you are, a single mother of two. Despite some serious heartbreak, you’re pulling yourself out of the dumps. You even stuck to your diet. You still have your same support group--I mean friends--and the second time you dived into the dating pool you came out with an excellent young boyfriend. I love you as a fifty-something, Bridget, but I am hoping that the next time we meet you aren’t in an assisted living facility trying to decide whether to shag the gardener or the dietician. ...more

I bought, as in purchased, this book. Even though I'm a retired librarian and have just waited six months for my library copy of Silver Linings PlayboI bought, as in purchased, this book. Even though I'm a retired librarian and have just waited six months for my library copy of Silver Linings Playbook to come in, I felt I had to own Binny. It has to do with trust, probably: trust that Hilary McKay isn't going to get lazy, rewrite the same book, or force her characters into a mold. Instead she's going to do her best to reveal their living, fizzing, essences. Her children are not usually self-absorbed (one exception here) or even introspective; they don't generally waste a minute figuring out their motives, and I get the feeling they may lead their author a merry dance.

So…

Binny has inherited a house from her brusque, distant, great aunt, who passed the inexcusable remark that bad things happen in threes (said at the funeral of Binny's grandmother, not so long after Binny's father died.) Binny reamed her GA out, three weeks later, the GA died, and because of that sorry scene, Binny and her family have been left a rundown little house in a seaside town. Not a horrible seaside town, like some you may have had the misfortune to visit, but a town with cliff caves, tidal pools, and offshore islands where seals haul out. And, ok, Binny may possibly have a guilty conscience--not that she probably knows what one is--and panicked moments, but she doesn't let that stop her from seizing the day, persuading the local teenaged entrepreneur-tourboat captain to "employ" her as unpaid Crew. Whenever Binny thinks off the word crew, she italicizes or capitalizes, or pauses before thinking it and this is why I am in awe of the author, because, come on--when you were eleven, wouldn't you have longed to be Crew? It's a proud moment when she actually gets to wear a life jacket with the word inked on it.

By the way, Binny generally does a decent job as Crew and at her other job clearing tables at a tiny cafe, where she does get to keep the money she finds there. (Not much, I assume; this is Britain.) And her older sister and younger brother are equally resourceful.

Why does Binny need the money? To try to track down her dog, given to her grandmother to care for after Binny's father died and the family had to move to a series of cramped apartments, and ruthlessly given away by Binny's GA, who decided her sister was not up to the challenge of a boisterous border collie. It's three years later, and Binny hasn't forgotten Max, but her GA never revealed his new owner and now it's too late. Binny buys stamps and stationery and begins a letter-writing campaign.

In the meantime, she acquires an enemy, Gareth, who is there for the summer, intent on making his father and his father's girlfriend's lives as miserable as possible. Now this is a situation I don't recall from my childhood… because Gareth is actually sort of a friend, companion, and competitor, but Binny is perfectly happy thinking about him as her next-door enemy and they spend a lot of time together carping at each other as they explore the seacoast.

There is, at the end, a dramatic denouement, and various lines are knotted together satisfactorily. Some minds are changed and some wishes come true. It's even possible that some lessons are learned, but I don't want to besmirch the author's rep.

I was disappointed in Sweet, Hereafter, which simply doesn't stand up to Johnson's previous books. Sweet, the young woman who narrates the book, is paI was disappointed in Sweet, Hereafter, which simply doesn't stand up to Johnson's previous books. Sweet, the young woman who narrates the book, is passive, maybe too much inside her head, and her relationships seem superficial and unsatisfying. The Heaven, Ohio magic isn't working for her or for the man she lives with....more

It's been a long time since I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. to finish a book, so I must have liked it, right? Well, yes and no. I do find the thin skinnedIt's been a long time since I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. to finish a book, so I must have liked it, right? Well, yes and no. I do find the thin skinned, defense playing, most-normal-guy-in-the-room type who narrates the typical JG novel a little tiresome. That's why I gave up on Looking for Alaska. But Tiny, the best friend (in Green's chapters) and new friend (in Levithan's chapters) is as much of a delight to read about as I'm sure he was to write about. And I must say that the authors, in their alternating chapters, do a great job with the continuity. Not that there was anyone remotely Tiny-like in my high school and not that even in these enlightened days do I see a high school approving the production of a musical like Tiny Dancer, written by, directed by, and starring Tiny himself. Tiny--flamboyant, talented, boy-on-boy lovestruck about every other day--is also caring and insightful. I kept thinking that he should become a minister or a charismatic tv talk host, and maybe he will... (Yeah, I'm planning out a future for him.) One caveat--why don't we ever meet the parents of this 300 lb. prodigy?

As for the Will Graysons, let's just say that I identified more with number two.

The collaboration between the authors works well and probably does bring something to the mindsets of the two narrators that wouldn't have happened with just one author. It's interesting to speculate about the logistics of writing with a partner and how technology and social networking may be working together to make these partnerships more and more prevalent.

I just finished listening to Sue Miller narrate her own work. Sometimes authors do superbly (Sherman Alexie, Neil Gaiman) and sometimes they flop (MadI just finished listening to Sue Miller narrate her own work. Sometimes authors do superbly (Sherman Alexie, Neil Gaiman) and sometimes they flop (Madeleine L'engle.) Miller makes a fair job of it, but maybe she should have taken a cue from Billy, her playwright protagonist, and let an actor do the job. Billy, who seemed to me rather prickly and self-deceiving, gets a sympathetic reading from Miller.

The Lake Shore Limited (name of book, name of play in the book) looks at how loss affects the lives of four survivors. Leslie, the brother of a man who perished on 9/11, introduces Sam, whose wife died of cancer, to Billy, who was Leslie's brother's lover. Rafe, the lead actor in Billy's 9/11 inspired play, is caring for a wife with ALS. But although the description may sound like a soap opera, the interior monologues remind me more of Virginia Woolf. Or Henry James who always picked, picked, picked away at the insubstantial.

I didn't love the characters, but here's the thing--they all did the best they could. And I will keep thinking about them, especially Rafe, whose hardest days may be ahead of him.

Could it possibly take anyone that long to learn to ride a bike? Just sayin'...

Sarah Dessen does a wonderful job exploring that relationships that AudCould it possibly take anyone that long to learn to ride a bike? Just sayin'...

Sarah Dessen does a wonderful job exploring that relationships that Auden has with her intellectual but emotionally clueless parents as she spends the summer before college at the beach with her father, stepmother, and her infant sister. I have never actually met a parent both so privileged and selfish as Auden's dad, who manages to ignore his wife, daughters, and colic while he finishes his second novel. And who seems to think that because he explained his requirement to his new wife before marriage that this now absolves him of a do-over when his baby won't stop crying--ever.

The sleep theme is also nicely developed. Auden has insomnia. Her stepmother is sleep deprived. The baby isn't sleeping. Only Dad gets his nine hours a night.

Other themes--girlfriends, death of a friend, boy friend to boyfriend--go along for the ride, some more successfully than others. And while I am not sure that I bought the pulling away that Auden does in the last part of the book (too obvious a plot device) I do like both her spunk and her humanity.

Like Liam, the protagonist of Noah's Compass, I am facing retirement. Maybe that's why I found the book depressing. I hope that when I leave my long-hLike Liam, the protagonist of Noah's Compass, I am facing retirement. Maybe that's why I found the book depressing. I hope that when I leave my long-held job, I won't find myself taking up a smaller and smaller space in the world. One of Liam's relatives, (daughter? sister?), tells him that she suspects he has calculated that he can make his current wardrobe last until his death. And she's right. Liam is constricting.

Luckily he finds a retirement goal--recapturing the memory of an assault which occurred on his first night in his minimal post-layoff apartment. In search of the stolen hours of his life, he actually takes just enough initiative to meet a woman who, for some reason unbeknownst to me, finds him appealing.

And the daughters and grandson he's kept at arms length are popping up in his life, first to look after him, then to be looked after by him. They're not brilliant or gorgeous or scintillating conversationalists, but they do keep him company, and maybe that's what pulls the book out of the dumps for me. Liam's a private, modest, introvert, but even he is better off with a little company. ...more

I enjoy clever authors who write clever books sprinkled with clues. Little did I suspect that the practice session for The $20,000 Pyramid on page 1 wI enjoy clever authors who write clever books sprinkled with clues. Little did I suspect that the practice session for The $20,000 Pyramid on page 1 would prove to be only a subplot and that Madeleine L'engle, new friends and frenemies, and a demented old street person would come together to create the plot denouement and solution to the mystery.

If you like The Westing Game and Chasing Vermeer, you should give this a try....more

I love authors who take care with the language. Haruf's book reminds me of Spoon River Anthology and Winesburg, Ohio, with a seasoning of Larry McMurtI love authors who take care with the language. Haruf's book reminds me of Spoon River Anthology and Winesburg, Ohio, with a seasoning of Larry McMurtry. ...more